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Psalm 12 - Deception

Psalm 12

 Deception

 Introduction
Psalm 12 is another short, testimonial Psalm about God and His reaction against the sin of lying.

Summary:
v1-4 David's plea to God for help
v5-7 God's response
v8 Depravity of mankind

David's plea to God for help
David begins Psalm 12 with a sad truth
Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
It is a shocking statement to make - and one that was valid in David time, and more so today than back then. David's time was home to some of the famous saints - Samuel, for example, who is credited 2 books in the Bible. David himself is one more. However, David claims that there are no more godly people, and he is right! None of us, nor anyone back in David's time, will meet God's standard for godliness or faithfulness.
He continues to say that everyone lies to his neighbor, and flattering lips speak deception. And rightly so, as in our daily lives we lie and flatter. Ever told someone you liked his shirt just to be politically correct? There you are, welcome to the liars.
David prays to God to cut off these people, those who have pride in themselves and their words, thinking that they will triumph and achieve great things with their words, lying and flattering intentionally, and having no regard for God as their master.

God's response
It seems that God replies David's prayer, and David records it down, saying God will arise because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy. He will protect them from those who malign them.
David goes on to express how valuable God's words are in contradiction to what our lying, flattering words are. He describes them as refined silver, pure and perfect, then goes on to give thanks to God for keeping them safe and protecting them forever.

Depravity of mankind
Again, David expresses the depravity of mankind in his last verse.
The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.
A horrifying thought, that the wicked should be allowed to strut arrogantly, again without fear of God, and that the world may be so deprived that we honor the vile instead of the pure.

Thoughts
Living in a fallen world, we must very clearly know what are the things we are to honor and dishonor. We must understand the danger of sin. What we consider "small sin" is no different from "major sin", for God is a holy God, and he despises all forms of sin, regardless of how serious it is. We must value God's perfect word and try to speak in a manner worthy of our calling. This line - worthy of our calling - has been stuck in my head all day. It means a transformed life, doing only things that will honor God.
We must be very conscious of our speech as lying and flattering people are daily activities in our depraved world.

Things to do
Stop lying / flattering people!
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